"As though seeking vengeance against the Light, the
forces of Darkness have renewed their malevolent aggressions. Not
content to remain in their own realm, daemonic emissaries from the
Underworld have begun making incursions into our land. It is
fortuitous that you have returned to Britannia in these perilous
times. Study well the words which follow, for they are essential to
your quest. And that quest is essential to the continued existence
of the human race..."
-- from the Compendium
|
| The sixth Ultima once again twisted its way into
new gaming territory. Remember all those monsters you killed in the
first five games? Well, what if they weren't really evil after all?
Others aren't always what they seem - and neither are you. It also
covered new technical ground, in the form of a new development
platform. Richard Garriott spent the first year of the Ultima VI
project trying to write the game for the fading Apple II, before
realizing it was hopeless, scrapping the whole thing, and starting
over on the PC. And a good thing too, as it allowed the game to be
much larger, richer, and more detailed. One of those details was an
entire brand-new language created for the species you confront in
the game, the Gargoyles. With hundreds of words and dozens of
documents translated into the new alphabet and vocabulary, it was
an impressive achievement for a computer game. The Gargoyle
language was written by Herman Miller, who also did the Gargoyle
musical theme, which can be heard both on this page and (if you
listen closely) on the Credits page of
this site. |
 |
 Ultima VI:
The False Prophet
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-77010. 3.5" (4), 5.25"
(7).
- Included: Ultima VI cloth map; Compendium book; Orb of
the Moons stone trinket; Player Reference Guide; Ultima VII contest
form.
- Original List Price: $69.95
- Platform: Commodore 64.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1991.
- Author: Conversion by Axel Brown (Imagitec) et al.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-77030. 5.25" (3).
- Platform: Amiga.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990.
Distributed by Mindscape.
- Author: Conversion by John Jones Steele.
- Characteristics: 3.5" (3).
- Included: Same as above, but a paper map instead of
cloth.
- Platform: Atari ST.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1991.
- No other information.
Ultima VI was the last game for which Origin provided support
for home computers other than the PC. I know the Amiga version of
Ultima VI sold fairly well, but I'm not sure that the others really
made much of a dent. And although the Atari ST conversion is
supposed to exist, I've never heard from anyone who had one. The
year 1990 was Ultima's tenth anniversary, and Origin held a contest
to commemorate the occasion. Ten of the game boxes did not contain
stone trinkets; they contained small metal runes. If you found a
rune, you would be included as a character in the next Ultima. I
have heard of a couple of the original winners, but not all ten.
Obviously these metal runes would make extremely rare
collectibles. |
|
|
Ultima VI: The False
Prophet
Tenth Anniversary Edition
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990.
- Characteristics: Same as above.
- Includes: Same as the regular edition, plus: 45-minute
audio tape of Richard Garriott discussing "Ten years of Ultima";
box autographed by Garriott and Denis Loubet.
- Platform: Commodore 64.
- Characteristics: Same as above.
If you preordered Ultima VI, you received a "special" edition
which included the audio tape and autographed box mentioned above.
I have seen these special copies traded around Usenet from time to
time, so if you're looking for Ultima VI, you may want to look for
this. I'm not sure whether the Amiga or Atari ST versions were
available this way, but the Commodore 64 version seems to have
been. |
|
|
Ultima VI: The False
Prophet
Special Promotional Release
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990.
- Characteristics: Same as above.
- Includes: Same as the regular edition, MINUS the cloth
map.
I know of someone who picked up a copy of Ultima VI from a
bargain bin. It had an Origin sticker in the lower right that said
"Special Promotional Release". The only thing "special" about it
was that it had a paper map instead of the real cloth one. Boy were
they disappointed. So be warned. |
|
|
Ultima VI: The False
Prophet
GT Interactive Edition
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990-1992.
- Characteristics:
- Includes: Same as above, but paper map instead of cloth,
and a smaller box.
- Original List Price: $69.95
Two years after the original release, Origin re-released the
game, distributing it this time through GT Interactive. I've seen people
looking for Ultima VI before that got this version, which could be
pretty disappointing if you were expecting a nice cloth map. So ask
what you're getting ahead of time. "Caveat Emptor", as
always. |
|
|
 Ultima: The False
Prophet
for Super Nintendo
- Platform: Super NES.
- Publisher: FCI/Pony Canyon, © 1993.
- Characteristics: UPC 22909-40001. Cartridge.
- Includes: Instruction book.
This was Origin's first game for the Super NES. I've never seen
it, but I'm given to understand that it's awful. Complex RPGs are
notoriously hard to implement on consoles; after all, there are
only so many commands you can implement with two buttons and a
four-way control pad. In any case, you can probably still find a
copy of this game from one of the online console game dealers such
as FuncoLand. |
|
|
Ultima VI: The False
Prophet
for the FM-Towns
- Platform: FM-Towns.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1990-1992.
- Characteristics: CD (1).
The FM-Towns was a Japanese computer, cloned from the PC but
with a slightly different operating system. Origin decided to
release Ultima VI in Japan for this computer, presumably because
they already had a ravening market from their Nintendo releases.
But what makes this item special is that it was Origin's first
product on CD - ever. And what's more, the game had FULL SPEECH on
the CD. I spoke with one of the former Origin employees that had a
speaking part for this game. If anyone ever finds a copy of this,
they had darn well better talk to me first! |
|
|
Ultima VI and Wing
Commander
CD-ROM Deluxe Edition
- Platform: PC.
- Publisher: Origin Systems, Inc., © 1993.
- Characteristics: UPC 17814-83715. EA 10021. CD (1).
- Original List Price: $79.95
In 1993 Origin began re-releasing some of their older games on
CD, one and two at a time. This product combined the original Wing
Commander with Ultima VI. It does not, as far as I know, have a
cloth map or anything special with it. |
|
|
Ultima VI and Wing
Commander
EA Classic CD Edition
- Platform: PC.
- Original List Price: $14.95
Around 1994, Electronic Arts started reprinting games from their
various product lines as "Classic" titles on CD. Origin's Ultima
VI/Wing Commander CD was one of them. It came in a small, thin
black box, with little inside but the CD and a reference card. Most
of the documentation was included on the CD in Acrobat
format. |
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